Lt. Col. (Ret.) Gus J. Stathis, beloved husband of Pauline Morris Stathis, passed away peacefully on Monday, December 2, 2024. Gus was a long-time resident of Stow, Massachusetts and  more recently Hanscom AFB in Bedford/Lincoln, Mass.

Gus is survived by his devoted wife of 48 years, Pauline and his cherished daughter, Christina. Gus is also survived by his sisters, Eugenia Pappas (Paul Pappas), and Tina Griffin of Jacksonville, Florida and nephews, Nicholas Pappas (Beverly) John Pappas and niece Evangeline Podes.

Gus is also survived by his Boston family in-laws:  Anne M. Lynch (Edward deceased), Dr.  Robert E. Morris(Jill Dopson), Joanne M. McDevitt (James deceased) E. Jennifer Morris (Steven Oldsman) and predeceased by Geoffrey P. Morris and Dorothy E. Morris. Gus' Boston nephews and nieces include Edward F. Lynch of Ridgefield, Conn. (Carolyn), Anne Lynch Kenneally (Kevin) of Hingham, Michael P. Lynch (Sandra) of Hingham, Katie Carroll (Kevin) of Milton, Jennifer Morris of Rockland, Anna Morris of Washington, D.C. (Paul Merrylees)  James P. McDevitt of Somerville, Patricia "Trish" Morris-Atwood of Washington, D.C. (Josh), Marco Oldsman of Baltimore, Maryland. Geoffrey W. Morris and Charles Morris predeceased him.

Gus, Konstantine Efstathiou, was born on March 13, 1941 in Jacksonville, Florida to Metaxia and John (Ioannis) Stathis. His father Ioannis was born in Leonidio, Peloponnese and his mother Metaxia was  from Spetses and grew up in Athens. His parents emigrated to the United States from Greece in 1936 and settled in Jacksonville, Florida. His father Ioannis, opened the Stathis Restaurant near the Naval Base and was known for not charging servicemen for food. His uncle John M. Cocoris, also from Leonidio, introduced sponge diving to Tarpon Springs in 1905 and recruited Greek sponge divers from the Dodecanese Islands.

Gus  graduated from Robert E. Lee High School  in Jacksonville. He then entered the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina and graduated in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering .  His best friends at the Citadel were Richard Terry of Georgia, Tony Borzumato of New York and Robert Devens of New Jersey, lifelong friends. In  September 1978, Gus received a Master of Engineering in Engineering Management degree from Boston University.

Nobody could write better about his career than Gus.

"I graduated in1963 from 'The Citadel' Military College, South Carolina. Because I did not like to march, they offered me the chance to be in the flying program, which was the first step to flight training. After graduation, I entered the United States Air Force Flight Training Program at Laredo AFB, Texas.

The first jet plane I flew was the T-37 and then the T-33. In order to graduate from Flight School, you had to fly solo in a T-33, land somewhere else and return at night at low altitude. As I approached the estimated time to land at Laredo AFB, I looked up and saw a huge mountain in front of me. There are no mountains in Texas. I was in Mexico because my heading indicator had failed! Using my standby whiskey compass, I flew on a north heading and eventually landed at Laredo AFB, Texas.

My first assignment after graduation from Pilot Training in December 1964 was the Air Defense Command learning to fly the F-101 Interceptor at Tyndall, AFB, Florida and then to Wurtsmith, AFB, Michigan. During my time at Wurtsmith, I experienced many exciting missions. The most exciting was landing in formation in winter, being told the runway was dry and sliding off the runway. After I climbed out of the airplane that was lying on its side in the snow, my Squadron Commander approached me and said I had to fly again that night or I would never fly again. So I did."

And fly he did.  Gus accumulated a total of 4000 hours flying jet aircraft in the role of Air Defense and Tactical Reconnaissance and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal (2 OLC), Air Medal (6 OLC) and the Air Force Commendation Medal.

Gus' military career consisted of 22 years of work and travel overseas in Thailand, Viet Nam, Okinawa, and Frankfurt, Germany, and stateside in Florida, Michigan, Idaho,Texas, Sumter, South Carolina, Washington, D.C. and Bedford, Mass. where he retired in 1985. Following his military career Gus  went on to a new one in Facility Management at Boston University, where he provided oversight for new construction projects and university expansion for 22 years. The beautiful new BU Boathouse along the Charles River was one of his most loved projects.

In 1968, Gus met his wife Pauline Morris from Boston who was teaching in the Overseas Dependent Schools in Okinawa. Peter Vergados, an Air Force Force friend from Boston,  was instrumental in reintroducing Pauline to Gus in 1974.  They were married in 1976 at the  Taxiarchae Greek Orthodox Church in Watertown. When Pauline (of Irish descent) was  introduced to Aunt Stella in Piraeus,, she said "that was fine since the Greeks contributed to the Creation of Ireland."

In May 1981, Gus and Pauline became parents to Christina, who was born at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C.  Christina captured Gus' attention and devotion for 43 years as he nurtured her development as a handicapped child. His never ending love was visible and Christina adored him.

Gus loved family, Greek and Irish, flying, golf and the open sea. You would see him sitting in the sun every chance he had whether in Boston, Jacksonville, Ormond Beach, Florida or Harwich Port, Mass. Lately, he soaked up the sun on the grounds of the VA in Bedford,Mass.

He battled the winters in the northeast and seemed to thrive on managing the snow in Stow. He was a farmer of sorts when he moved to his beautiful home in Stow, where his land had 13 golden delicious apple trees. His neighbor, Brian Premru, helped him learn how to care for the trees and produce an abundance of apples for the Boston University crowd and great apple picking adventures for his many great nieces and nephews.

Gus will be sorely missed by his friends and family. Pauline gives special thanks to those caring members of the family and friends who made Gus' last two years memorable with visits, calls, cards,Greek cookies and most of all kindness and encouragement.

Gus was treated with compassion and love at the Edith Nourse Memorial Veterans' Hospital. We are indebted to the medical professionals, great therapists, nurses, social workers,clergy and staff who worked tirelessly this past year. We are also grateful to the Mass. General Hospital surgeons, cardiologists and nurses who tried so hard to have a positive outcome.

Funeral Services will be held on Friday December 13, 2024 at the Taxiarchae Greek Orthodox Church, 24 Bigelow Avenue, Watertown, MA at 11:30AM.  Visitation prior to the Service from 10AM to 11:30AM at the church. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend.  For those unable to attend the services please use the following link to live-stream the funeral service https://m.youtube.com/live/WtZa9RDW6IM?feature=share In lieu of flowers donations in his memory may be made to the Northeast Arc, 6 Southside Rd. Danvers, Mass. 01923 for the "Burlington House."

Burial will be held at the Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

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